Apparently, the vehicles that carried people between Celestial Foundations were simply called “lifts.” Yogiri pressed the large red button he found at the center of the lift’s console. That was supposedly all he needed to do, but there was no sign that the lift was moving after he pressed it. Of course, he didn’t really know what it meant to move between Foundations in the first place, so he had no idea whether that was strange or not.
“Oh, look! I think we’re moving!” Tomochika said, staring out a window.
Yogiri stepped alongside her and looked outside to see countless rainbow lights streaming by. “What are those? Stars? This is starting to give me kind of a fairy-tale vibe.”
“It would look lonely if there was nothing at all, so there’s a bit of visual flair for atmosphere,” Kouryu’s voice explained to them.
“Wait, you’re still here?!” Tomochika exclaimed.
“I can’t rest easy until I know you guys made it back safe, can I? If you changed your mind halfway there and turned around, I’d be in trouble.”
“I have no intention of doing so, but could we turn around if we wanted to?”
“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you. I can’t afford to be on your bad side, after all. I know you can use your power no matter how far apart we are. But this isn’t something I want to share so casually. If you really have to know, then ask and I’ll tell you.”
“It’s just idle curiosity, so if you’re that worried, you don’t have to bother. But it’s not just as simple as pressing this button again, is it?” The only button on the console was the one Yogiri had pushed to get them moving. It seemed to be the only way to control the lift.
“Feel free to press it as much as you like. It stopped working after you pressed it the first time.”
“You’re really that worried about us, huh?” Tomochika sighed.
“Anyway, please relax. I won’t bother you unless you call for me.”
“One last question. How long will it take us to get home?”
“It should feel like about thirty minutes. I think you’ve figured this out from someone else, but when you make it home, people won’t think you’ve been gone for a huge amount of time. I can’t give you a concrete number, but it’ll only be like a few minutes to a few dozen minutes have passed.”
“Wasn’t getting to your world instant, though?!” Tomochika said. Their class had been transported on the bus. Yogiri had been asleep at the time, so he didn’t know how it had happened, but Tomochika seemed to find it baffling.
After a while of watching the window, Yogiri got bored and took a seat. There was a table inside the lift, so they had a spot to rest.
Tomochika eventually sat down opposite him. “I really don’t get this Foundation and Axis stuff.”
“It’s totally outside our realm of understanding, huh?” Yogiri agreed.
I suppose this is the proper way one should use to travel between worlds, Mokomoko added.
“Oh, you’re still here?” Tomochika asked, looking towards the ghost now floating behind her.
Of course I am! Why would you think I disappeared?!
“I mean, you appeared after I traveled to another world, so I figured you’d disappear after we got back.”
I have always been guarding you. You were just never able to perceive me!
“But, like, what are you going to do now? Are you just going to be floating around me all the time? It’ll be pretty hard to live my life if I see you everywhere.”
Oh, this child still has not learned any respect for her ancestors...
But seeing something that no one else could certainly risked making things awkward for Tomochika. If she responded to events happening around her in a way that was different from other people, it could cause problems in her daily life.
No matter. Once we return, I will be able to travel around to some extent. I have no intention of spending every waking moment following you.
“Thank goodness!”
You seem far too relieved...
Tomochika hadn’t awakened to any sort of supernatural ability to see spirits. The only one she could see was Mokomoko. Yogiri was the same, but they had been uneasy about how it would all work out. They knew they could see a spirit once they realized that it existed, so if they encountered some spiritual phenomenon, they might end up being able to see the entity causing it. And if that happened numerous times, they might develop the ability to see spirits in general.
Hopefully I’m just worrying over nothing, Yogiri thought. At this point, he didn’t feel like there was anything to gain from dwelling on the matter.
“Did you know the world was set up this way, Mokomoko?”
Indeed. I knew of worlds outside our own, and of the Upper Level Information Layer that exists above them, though I was unaware that one could use the Celestial Axis to travel between worlds.
“So you were only able to exchange information?”
Precisely. While I was aware that something out there existed, I could not learn about the particulars. I thought perhaps they were information-based life forms, but it appears they were physical beings after all.
“I guess there are all kinds of worlds...”
Well...truth be told, you having knowledge of them is in and of itself a large problem...
“Not that I wanted to know any of this,” Yogiri replied. With him having no knowledge of these worlds, the chances of him affecting them were next to zero. But now he had learned other worlds existed. Though he wouldn’t proactively be attacking them or anything, the chance of them getting caught in the cross fire as he dealt with other issues had increased.
“This stuff about other worlds is interesting and all, but aren’t things going to be really difficult for us once we get back? What about our school trip?”
“I guess it’ll be canceled.”
I cannot imagine it will be that simple. A number of your classmates have died, after all, Mokomoko remarked.
“Oh, right,” Tomochika said.
Did you honestly forget?
“Of course not! But...I guess it’s something I just sort of accepted, since we couldn’t do anything about it!”
“Maybe it’s not my place to say this, but you’re pretty tough, aren’t you?” Yogiri commented.
“That’s not really the kind of compliment a girl wants to hear!”
Well, a good portion of her psyche has been compartmentalized for combat. The Dannoura Way covers most of that. Besides, the current Dannoura Way prizes emotional refinement as much as physical!
“You make it sound like I’ve been genetically modified or something.”
Unfortunately, the best we can manage in the present age is selective breeding. We cannot risk going beyond that in today’s society.